a study of love
by worldoffire
Summary: Five moments of a relationship. SasuIno.


Turns out I'll be busier than I thought over the month, so I took the original post of this down and reposted this one. This is now just an AU oneshot (in five parts, I suppose). They're AU in that there was no Uchiha Massacre, and therefore all of the Uchiha are alive and Sasuke is still in the village. Enjoy. c:

Disclaimer: Nope.

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**oo1.**

She looks down at the watch on her left wrist, and then taps her fingers against her thigh. He's _late_. Not by much, only two minutes, but still. Ino is a very punctual girl, though she doesn't seem like it, and she likes for herself to be on time, and for others to be as well. If he doesn't hurry up, she may very well go over to Sakura's; she's not working tonight, and, as far as she knows, has no plans. They could curl on the couch, eat ice cream, and talk about everything and nothing like always. Actually, that sounds quite nice. If he isn't here in the next five minutes, she'll do exactly that.

He makes it with a minute to spare, jogging up the street, jacket slung over his shoulder. A smile spreads over her face instantly; even if she is irritated with him over being late, it can't be helped. By now, after two and a half months, it's simply reflex.

He stops in front of her, shoes scuffing in the dirt a bit. "Ino. I'm glad you're still here; I thought when I was late that you might leave, go to Sakura's or something, and I'd be left alone tonight. It's just, my mom stopped me on my way out, wanting to know where I was going, and when I told her, she started squealing about how cute we were together, and then everyone else came in, and—um, anyways, you're not mad, are you?"

Her smile breaks into a laugh, and she reaches up to fling her arms around him. Her voice is muffled by his shoulder when she speaks. "No, Sasuke, I'm not. You know I love your mom. She's just so sweet and kind and wonderful. How's Itachi doing, by the way? I heard he caught something and has been stuck in bed for the last week or so."

His arms loop around her waist. "He's doing fine, though we were pretty worried at first; it was bad, sounded as though he was coughing up a lung. Shisui's been around the whole time, though, being… well, Shisui. When I left he was throwing pillows at Itachi's head. He was worried, too, though. He's been sleeping at the house and everything." He smiles down at her, blue-black eyes sparking. "You look wonderful."

"You do too." He's in a charcoal gray suit, fancy, though missing his jacket of course. His tie is a dark blue, almost the color of his eyes, and crooked, which she fixes. She's in a dress herself, a mix of dark hues, blues and purples for the most part, though there's a bit of green in it as well.

He holds out his arm to her, and she takes it. "Well? You ready for dinner?"

She smiles up at him. "Very. Where are we eating? You never did tell me."

"I didn't? It's a newer place; the big one, over near the baths? Kiba ate there and mentioned it to me, and he said it was good; I've tried it myself, and it is. You'll like it."

"I'm sure I will."

**oo2.**

She moves the vase of flowers in the middle of the table to the right a bit, then steps back and looks. "Hm. Does it look off now from where you're standing? From here it looks perfect, but I want it to be right from all angles. This place has to look perfect, after all; your parents and Itachi haven't been here yet, and it all needs to look just right."

Sasuke leans against the wall and sighs, fighting a smile. She's been doing this for the last five hours, wandering around their new apartment and fixing anything that even seems to look wrong, despite it all having already looked perfect. She'd gotten the place sparklingly clean, put everything in its proper spot, and told him not to touch anything or she'd convince Sakura to beat him. When he'd asked why she didn't do it, she'd primly responded that she would never be seen doing something so un-ladylike.

That had just made him laugh and sweep her into his arms. She's an agent of the ANBU alongside him, not that many know it; just him, and Sakura, who she'd sworn to secrecy upon telling. She'd have done the same to him if he hadn't joined about the same time that she did; they're usually teamed together, as their partnership is flawless.

He looks at her, and she's now straightening the cabinets, putting the cans and boxes in perfect order. Why that needs to be cleaned is beyond him; as far as he knew, his parents weren't going to be rifling through their cabinets. The food is already in the process of being cooked, so she won't be getting into it to retrieve any ingredients. He shrugs slightly. It's probably a better idea to just let her do what she wants, rather than ask her why and have her smack him and walk away. He would rather like to have contact with her for the rest of the week, after all.

The bell rings, and she jumps, slamming the cabinet doors closed. "They're here! No, no, I'm still not done cleaning; it's a mess in here."

He walks over and wraps his arms around her. "Ino. It looks wonderful in here. It's perfect. They'll love it, just like they love you. Do you want to go let them in while I finish the food? I probably won't get very far, though; my mother will probably rush in and push me aside, telling me that I'm not doing it right. Which I'm probably not, of course."

She twists and hugs him quickly. "No, you're never doing it right. At least not perfectly right. It will be edible, at least. Perhaps I can talk your mom into teaching you to cook properly? I've been a failure at it."

He shoves her lightly in the direction of the door, and heads for the kitchen. He actually might ask his mother to teach him how to perfectly cook. He'd wanted to, but ANBU had kept him busy; he'd have liked to cook tonight's meal himself, talk Sakura into taking Ino shopping, just so it could all be perfect for tonight: a surprise home-cooked meal, done by him, his family there, and of course his biggest surprise. It'll all be fine, though.

He pats his pocket, feeling the box in it, and then starts on the food.

**oo3.**

"Ino? You probably don't realize it, but you're moving, and it's making this difficult. Could you try and keep yourself still?"

"Sorry, Shizune. I'll try."

She looks down at Shizune, who's sitting on a stool by her legs. A needle is in her hand, and she's messing with the fabric of Ino's dress. She's not particularly sure what she's doing, since she's never figured out how to repair clothing or anything like that; but, then, if she did Shizune wouldn't be here.

Sakura's in the corner, and she looks her best friend up and down before nodding with a smile. "Looks good, Ino. Spectacular, really. You did a fabulous job picking it."

"I couldn't have done it without you, Forehead. And Hinata and Tenten and Shizune, of course; without you four I could be stuck in something short."

Sakura snorts at her. "Yeah, you probably would. The civilian-style looks much better than a shinobi-style wedding dress."

Ino has to agree with her; it does. The shinobi-style is traditionally short, more of an elegant, decorated kimono than a dress. This, though, the civilian-style one, is long, falling to her ankles. The sleeves reach down to her wrists, made of diaphanous material from the shoulders down and embroidered with small jewels. The top layer of skirt is made the same way, with layers of snowy white material beneath it, pushing the skirt out slightly, as if it's a civilian fairy tale outfit.

She loves it; she'd been planning to go with a traditional shinobi wedding outfit, but Hinata had convinced her to take a look at the civilian ones, along with Tenten. She'd not thought she would find anything she liked there, and she'd been proven wrong the moment she stepped into the store. This one had caught her eye, and now here she is, with Shizune fixing the small measurement issues.

There's a knock on the door; one, two, three in a row. Sakura stands straight and walks to it, asking, "Yes? Who is it?"

"It's me." Hearing the voice of her fiancée makes Ino want to squeal and dance; Shizune might try to murder her if she did so, though, so she refrains from it.

She can't see it, as she's facing the opposite direction from the door, but she can hear Sakura open it. "You know, Sasuke, you're not supposed to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony."

Ino can also hear him sigh. "Yes, Sakura, I know that. I just wanted to bring this by and have you look at it. I can't track down my mother, so you're next on my list for looking at menu designs or whatever these are."

"They are menu designs, actually; I'm proud of you for getting that right. Now, shoo. She'll be out soon, Shizune's almost done fixing up the dress." Sakura shuts the door and walks around to where Ino can see her. She holds up a sheet of paper. "Inoo. Do these look okay to you? I like them, but it's your wedding, after all."

"Yes, they're fine." She frowns. "I'm still not sure why we have to design menus, of all things."

"Because this is a wedding and you're the bride and you're only getting married once, so we're doing this proper and civilian-style and fancy. That means designed menus."

**oo4.**

She can hear the music begin to play as Fugaku takes her arm. Her own father died in the war, five years ago, and so Sasuke's father had offered to walk her down the aisle instead, as they do in civilian weddings. As Sakura had told her a month ago, this was the only time she was getting married and so they were doing this right, proper and fancy and entirely civilian.

The door to the hall opens, and almost everything in her vision is white. There are only a few spots of color: the guests' outfits, Sasuke's suit, and Naruto's outfit. Petals from all kinds of flowers line the floor before her, every sort she can name. The bouquet in her hands is made up of a mix as well: white and red roses, morning glories, and multicolored lilies, her favorites.

The music swells as she and Fugaku approach Sasuke. Itachi is standing behind him, the best man; Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Shizune are all in a line, dressed in identical off-white dresses, her bridesmaids; Naruto stands in front of Sasuke, the Hokage waiting to preside over the ceremony. The rows hold the boys of the Konoha Twelve plus Gaara and Kankuro, along with a number of Sasuke's Anko are here, as are Kurenai and her little boy, and a number of ANBU that she and Sasuke have befriended take up a row, in civilian clothes for once.

They've reached Sasuke and the rest of the wedding party. Fugaku lets go of her arm, kisses her forehead, and claps Sasuke on the shoulder, then heads to sit next to his wife. She turns to look at Sasuke, in a pure black suit, with a deep purple tie. It's crooked, just like it was on the date when he asked her to move in with him. She can't help but hold her bouquet in one hand and reach out to fix it. He smiles as she does, and she wonders if he might have had it crooked purposefully, a joke between the two of them. She smiles back; beams, really.

Naruto starts to read the words he's memorized for this day, and, while Ino is standing just a few feet away from him and should be able to hear him crystal clear, it sounds foggy, filled with fuzz, and she can't focus on more than a few words. She glances over to Sakura, who smiles encouragingly, as if she knows exactly what Ino's issue is, that she can't hear a thing on one of the most important days of her life.

She hears when it's time to say "I do" for the both of them. They say it, one after the other, and Sasuke's arm slips casually around her waist in expectation of Naruto's next lines.

"You may now kiss the bride."

He wraps his other arm around her waist and pulls her to him. He whispers something to her just before their lips meet, and it makes her smile into his mouth.

"I love you, Uchiha Ino. Welcome to the family."

**oo5.**

She throws her feet up onto the coffee table and sighs, leaning back into the plush material of the couch. She reaches for her book, opening it to the bookmarked page and beginning to read.

"Having a child is tiring," she mutters to herself. Sasuke's been away on a mission for the last two weeks, and while she knows they'd needed him on it, it's still tiring taking care of Omoi on her own. At least he'll be back today, and she'll be able to take a break for a while. She loves him dearly, but he's fussy. Mikoto had told her that if she needed help to bring him to her, and while she'd thought about doing so, she'd decided against it. She's already here enough when Sasuke is home, helping with her first grandchild, and Ino thought she could use a break; not that she'd have told her mother-in-law that. She had a startling similarity to Sakura in that she tended to be physically violent to those she loved when they were being stupid, and she was fairly sure Mikoto would find her reasoning that.

The door opens and closes in the hallway. "Knock, knock. I'm home."

"In here." She looks up and smiles as her husband comes in. He's still in mission clothing, and it's dirty, covered with mud and leaves and something that could be blood but also could not be. "Go take a shower and put those in the laundry. You're not getting anywhere near me or Omoi like that."

"I can't even have a look at my son? I've been away for two weeks; I'm sure he's grown in that time. I'm amazed he's not crawling yet."

She rolls her eyes. "He's only a year old still. Give it a while and he will, though; then we'll have to be even more careful than we already are. We'll have to lock up the kunai and everything."

"Fun. Better than him stabbing himself, though, I suppose. My mother would murder me in my sleep." He leans over the crib, dangling a hand over Omoi. A tiny hand reaches for his bigger one, and he smiles at the same time Ino does. Without him noticing, she pulls a camera out and snaps a picture of the scene, then two; it's just too wonderful to not be immortalized in photo. Mikoto will love it, too; she'll have to bring her a copy of the photograph when they go over for dinner tonight.

"You really do need to go shower, though. We're going to your parents for dinner tonight, remember? I don't think your mother will be too pleased if you're still looking like… that."

He straightens up and rolls his shoulders. "She might very well murder me for that as well. Will do." He walks over to briefly kiss her forehead before heading in the direction of the bathroom, already shedding clothes as he moves.

"In the laundry!" she yells. Then she settles back into the couch and picks up the picture of Sasuke and Omoi again. A smile makes its way onto her face, lazy and happy, as she looks at two of her favorite people.


End file.
